The Christian Mission
by Fr. Gus Carter
5/8/05

I do not have to describe for you all the immorality reported daily in the media. We hear of much violence humans do to each other. We are aware of so much that is going on that we harden ourselves to the sufferings that are occurring. In another part of the Epistle we are reading today, Ephesians, St. Paul describes the similar conditions of his converts two thousand years ago: "You were dead in your transgressions and sins in which you once lived following the age of this world... All of us once lived among them in the desires of our flesh and the impulses and we were by nature children of wrath. " Early Christianity appealed to people of its time because many were heartsick over the evils that prevailed. A numbness towards life had set in. A confusion, even despair, resulted from all that was happening.

The Gospel today recounts one of the instances in which Jesus commissions his followers to live and to teach his message to all people. "Go and make disciples of all nations." The reading from the Acts of the Apostles tells of Jesus addressing all his followers, "You will be my witnesses to the ends of the earth." In a world full of pain and despair we are called to show people a beautiful way to live. We not only help ourselves by being loving persons, we can aid others in becoming loving individuals and healers in a wounded world.

Our biggest temptation in the face of overwhelming evil is to be fainthearted. We say, "What can I do about such enormous problems?" In the second reading St. Paul prays that the Lord will give members of Christ's body "the Spirit of wisdom and revelation resulting in knowledge of God." He further prays that we will have faith "in the surpassing greatness of Jesus power," We have heard that Jesus has power over all things in the universe. We participate in this power because we are members of his body. We must have faith in God's presence in our lives.

The significance of the Ascension is that the humanity of Jesus has been taken into the circle of divine love in the Blessed Trinity. Because he is our brother, we, too, are incorporated into the circle of divine love. Prayer is the way we take hold of the love that is offered us through Jesus. I have said before that the spiritual masters of the Church have advised us to begin any prayer by remembering that our great Creator is looking on us with love. We also believe that in some way everything that exists has been made as a way our Creator says to us, "I love you."

St. Paul prays that our hearts may be enlightened that we may know what is the hope that belongs to our calling. In the last hundred years Almighty God has given us two saints who have revealed the power of God working in every ordinary circumstance. St. Therese loved God all her life in obscurity. She became one of the most powerful saints we knOw. The Lord was revealing to us the power of quiet, almost hidden love. Mother Teresa began her spiritual mission with what seemed insignificant acts of respect and love for forgotten people. Through her the whole world has come to recognize the power of small acts of kindness.

St. Paul calls to our minds the richness of glory found in Jesus Christ's inheritance. That glory belongs to each Christian sent into the world. The glory of God's love surrounds our mission of demonstrating and telling others of God's love for them. The glory of our inheritance culminates in an eternity of love with our Creator. When we become discouraged, we must remember the importance of our mission. Perhaps we have stressed humility to the point at which we do not feel the importance of what we do. Everyone has a drive in life to do something significant. We need to reflect and pray that we may come to understand better that the Lord depends on us. We maintain our humility, but also our courage, by realizing that it is the power of God's love that is behind our mission. The power that raised Jesus from the dead, that makes him ruler of the universe, is given to us. We can do more than we could ever for hope for or imagine by depending on the Lord's power. St. Paul always prayed for his Churches and even those he had only heard about. We should especially pray for the people of our parish and for Church work that we hear about. We can always pray St. Francis prayer, "Lord, make me an instrument of your peace." Our mission is to bring peace and love into a tortured world. We must reflect on and ponder the magnificent that is our vocation.